


one single thread of gold

by LilacFeather



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, FitzSimmons Secret Santa, Holidays, Minor Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Minor Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Minor Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa, New Year's Eve, Romance, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28538415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacFeather/pseuds/LilacFeather
Summary: Jemma Simmons has been hearing her soulmate's voice ever since she was six years-old. But twenty years later, she's beginning to think she might never meet him. That is, until her friend's end-of-the-year party spins her life out off its axis.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	one single thread of gold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ritalara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ritalara/gifts).



> Hello there!
> 
> This is my FS secret santa gift to Rita. She's a ray of sunshine in the AoS fandom and I'm so happy I got to make her something.  
> I actually haven't written a proper Fitzsimmons fic since the FSSS of 2014 so I apologize for any mistake or mischaracterization. This project is really important to me though as I've always been a fan of ritalara's works and I really wanted to write and make the best gift for her. The story isn't finished yet but I already planned 3 chapters. I've always wanted to write a Soulmates AU so I also have some ideas for other stories set in the same universe.
> 
> I'd also like to thank lazyfish, LibbyWeasley and AgentofShip for their help during the writing process ♥
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> You can find the companion gifset here: https://ofitzsimmons.tumblr.com/post/639036743719518208

A Soulmate is someone with whom one has a special, almost spiritual connection. Or rather, in Jemma’s case as well as for most people, a telepathic connection. That was until you met them.

It was a few days before Christmas that year when Jemma Simmons stopped hearing her soulmate's voice inside her head. Problem was… she hadn’t met him yet. Or at least she didn’t realise she had. The whole thing was kind of a mess but she wasn’t even that surprised. From the beginning, it seemed that she and her soulmate were going to face quite a few challenges before they could actually meet each other.

Jemma and her soulmate had been hearing each other ever since they were 6. She couldn’t remember exactly how or when it happened. One day she was on her own in her head, the next she was hearing a boy’s voice alongside her inner voice. They didn’t know each other’s names but she started to call him “Monkey” when she realised how obsessed with them he was. Jemma knew that her soulmate’s parents had separated not long after the beginning of their telepathic bond and, after hearing Monkey for a few months, she knew it was for the best. Monkey knew she got surgery for her scoliosis when she was 8 and that was when she began to get obsessed with space - he would hear her name every constellation with their stars and satellites - for hours on end, he didn't mind though, her voice used to lull him to sleep. That’s also when he finally found a nickname for her: Star.

At some point during their teenage years, she moved to the States and started hearing him at odd hours, before she went to sleep or in the early morning, and so she figured they used to live in the same or at least similar time zones before her move. It was weird at first, she was so used to hearing him all day long, rooting for him before his school projects or getting offended on his behalf when he thought about how the kids in his class mocked him. But as everything when one was young, she adapted. 

When Jemma first started hearing Monkey and told her parents about it, they quickly sat her down to explain the few rules about connecting to her soulmate through their telepathic link: first, one couldn't share their name or location. If they ever tried, the attempt would sound like static at the other end of a phone call. Jemma knew first hand about that as it happened when she tried to explain to Monkey why they couldn't communicate as much as they used to after her move. But she knew her soulmate was smart so she assumed he would have come to the same conclusion as her.

And so they started a routine in which no matter how their day went, they would greet each other good morning and good night, without fail. She would wake up with his late night thoughts about the sci-fi movies he would watch and him with her biology experiments or homework. Years went by like this, until one day Monkey announced that he was moving someplace else. He didn’t even try to tell her when, as he knew she hated to hear static. Nonetheless, she smiled when she heard him think “I hope I’m getting closer to you.”

A few weeks later, Jemma began to hear Monkey all day long and she didn’t think she had felt happier in her life before. However, as time went on and as they kept hearing each other and trying to find ways to find each other, her hope dwindled until she ended up accepting that yes, she had a soulmate but the chance of them meeting was so rare that they probably never would.

The second rule of the soulmate bond was that one would hear their soulmate up until they met them. Then the bond would break and only be repaired if they kissed each other. That rule had always sounded like a fairytale to Jemma, a bit like when Prince Charming would kiss the princess to wake her up and break the curse. But life was far from a fairytale and therefore, if she ever wanted to kiss her soulmate, she would have to find him first.

* * *

_The last day_

This is a bad idea, Jemma thought as she put her stockings on. She was not in the mood to party but a promise was a promise and she did promise to her best friend Daisy that she would be there. Like every year since they've known each other, a week before Christmas, Daisy Johnson would throw her 'end of the year Extravaganza', as she named it herself. It consisted of inviting all her friends, colleagues and her friend's friends so that everyone could get drunk to their heart's content before they had to join their family for Christmas – Daisy herself would spend her Christmas with her adoptive parents Phil and Melinda, and her boyfriend Sousa, so really Jemma had no idea why her best friend was still adamant on throwing the party every year when she knew her own holiday would go just fine, which Jemma attempted to tell her a few weeks ago. To which, Daisy replied, “Not everyone is as lucky as me, so I'm just doing you all a service and make sure you attend at least one joyful celebration at the end of the year.” Jemma couldn't help the roll of her eyes when she saw her friend smirk. She didn't feel targeted by her comment in the least... well, that was a lie. Daisy knew that, every year as the holidays approached, it was harder for Jemma not to feel melancholic as she saw the holiday cheer all around and couples being all lovey-dovey on the streets when she hadn't met her soulmate yet. Daisy noticed her change of mood and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “Hey, you know I wasn't talking about you, right? I'm sure you'll find your little engineer sooner rather than later.”

She was aiming for a hopeful tone but Jemma's heart was not really in it. It had been three years since she'd realized she and her soulmate most likely lived in the same part of the world again. Yet, she could still hear him every day and they still had no idea how close they actually were from each other nor when they would finally meet. Even though Jemma initially moved from England to Michigan, she had been working in Chicago for two years before she moved to New York. She loved the city and its dynamics but it being one of the biggest cities in the world meant it wasn’t easy to find her soulmate, that was if he even lived in New York. Jemma was smart and she knew Monkey was as clever as her so it would make sense for him to work in a leading company in the Big Apple. Only there were a lot of tech companies in New York and thousands of engineers employed by those. She knew, she had looked into it. Throughout the years she had guessed that it was her soulmate’s career after all the time he had spent studying electronics, mechanics, robotics and what not, and hearing him study in her head. Jemma couldn’t count the times she had been wandering around a few renowned buildings like Stark Industries, Rand Enterprises or even Roxxon in the hope of hearing a familiar voice, to no avail. 

She shook her head as she dismissed yet another outfit for the party, this time a little red number she had bought with Daisy so her friend would stop pestering her for always wearing the same “dull outfits”. But instead her eye caught on a classy black dress that she had treated herself to earlier this year. It was a bit different from her usual style but she would still feel comfortable in it. She went on to do her hair and makeup then, she didn’t usually spend such a long time getting ready but Daisy’s party was probably going to be the highlight of her month and she enjoyed dressing up from time to time. While she was putting the finishing touches on her hairdo, her phone buzzed and she almost gasped when she saw the time displayed on her screen. She was getting late and the caller ID only confirmed it as it showed her best friend sticking her tongue out at the camera. Jemma picked it up while placing one last pin in her hair.

“Sorry I didn’t see the time! I’ll be on my way in five minutes.” She could hear people talking and music in the background so she assumed the party was well underway already.

“Hurry! Mack’s friend is here and apparently he isn’t going to stay long…” Daisy complained and Jemma tried hard to remember what she was forgetting.

“The engineer from Rand Enterprises?” her friend insisted and suddenly she remembered. Daisy did mention that Mack made a new friend at work who happened to be an engineer, “another one”, Jemma had initially thought. It wasn’t the first time her friends tried to hook her up with engineers from all over New York since it was basically

the only piece of information they had about Jemma’s soulmate… Actually, there was another one but Jemma hadn’t felt like sharing her soulmate’s accent. It felt too personal for some reason.

“Oh, right. I’m almost done,” Jemma hesitated on asking any details about the stranger but she was too scared to be disappointed by yet another miss so she held back.

“Just make sure he doesn’t leave before I arrive, please.”

At the end of the day, she was still a hopeless romantic and the holiday cheer was making her feel a tad more hopeful, even if there was a high chance she was going to be let down again.

She arrived at Daisy’s 20 minutes later and she could hear the music and commotion from the hallway. She rang the doorbell and Daniel, Daisy’s boyfriend, greeted her a moment later.

“Jemma! It’s good to see you. Daisy’s been waiting-” But Jemma didn’t get to hear the end of his sentence as he got interrupted by his girlfriend coming down on their visitor at full speed.

“Jems! Here you are finally!!” Jemma barely had time to notice Daniel’s apologetic smile before she was being dragged inside the apartment and into her friend’s living room which was buzzing with activity.

Daisy had really outdone herself this year, the space was beautifully decorated with fairy lights, colourful garlands and soft Christmas music was playing in the background. There were a lot of people. Her friend made her stop in front of a small group that was chatting amiably and as she cleared her throat, Jemma felt like disappearing into a hole. 

“Lance, this is my friend Jemma. Jemma, this is Hunter, who’s an engineer at Rand Enterprises and…” Daisy trailed off as she looked for the names of the three other people in the circle… to no avail.

“Actually… I’m head of security at Rand Enterprises, love."

Jemma wasn’t surprised as Daisy was used to inviting people and their friends, even when she didn’t know them. At the end, her friend simply gave up and shrugged. “...Well I’ll let you all get acquainted.” She scurried off towards other guests and Jemma found herself surrounded by strangers and mortified by her friend’s introduction. This was a bad idea. She took a deep breath and let out a nervous laughter.

“Sorry about Daisy… she’s all over the place.” That wasn’t entirely true but Jemma figured her best friend owed her after the stunt she just pulled. 

“There’s no harm done, love. I do have an engineer friend hanging around here somewhere though. Any particular reason you were looking for one?”

She shook her head. “Not really, no…” She wasn’t about to lay down her private life in front of three strangers after all. Instead, she diverted the topic of the conversation towards the two men with Lance, whose identities had yet to be revealed.

They made small talk for a little while, even though Jemma had realised as soon as Lance spoke that he wasn’t her soulmate. His voice was completely different from Monkey and even though he did have an accent, Jemma was glad to have found another fellow Brit and they did talk a bit about home, it wasn’t the right one. Neither were his two friends. But by now she knew how to hide her disappointment well so she only excused herself when the conversation started to die down. She proceeded to the kitchen to get something to drink then, as it seemed that it’d be the only thing she would have to look forward to tonight. Once she had her gin and tonic in hand, she resolved to go back to the party and mingle some more. Moping around in a corner wouldn’t do. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard her soulmate scoff. _Well it must be tonight’s trend…_ She couldn’t help but smile. She hadn’t heard him much today and as usual, she’d missed him.

 _I’m glad to know I’m not the only one feeling that way_ … _what do you say we turn our frown upside down and have fun?_ She knew they were probably miles away from each other but they both were at a party at the same time and that connection warmed her heart. 

* * *

Fitz couldn’t believe he let himself be dragged to this. He wasn’t a fan of parties, especially ones where he didn’t know anybody. But Mack had insisted. Fitz had only been in New York for a few months now but it was his first time at a party. His colleague Mack seemed to have taken a liking to him as he invited him to his friend’s party as soon as he got the invitation. “Daisy’s parties are always good fun,” his friend assured him before chuckling to himself, “well, it can also escalate quickly into mayhem…” He had trailed off at Fitz’s facial expression then before shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it Turbo. Besides, it’s high time you get to live the full on New York experience.”

Needless to say, this statement hadn’t helped Fitz’s anxiety at all. Fortunately, Mack wouldn’t be the only one Fitz knew at that party. Although he hadn’t met Mack’s friend yet, his best friend Hunter was also attending, as his on and off girlfriend Bobbi was part of their friends’ group. All three of them were the reasons why Fitz was now on the terrace of some high up building in New York, nursing his beer in a corner because he had lost his best friend in the crowd, couldn’t find Mack anywhere and didn’t want to bother Bobbi who was having the time of her life socializing with everyone. 

That was the moment he heard her. Star. Or at least that’s how he had named her in his head. He could almost feel the loneliness of her thoughts and he hated to know she was feeling that way. But at the same time, it was comforting to know they were sharing the same feeling even when they were miles apart. He chuckled again as he heard her ever optimist self trying to make the best out of their pitiful situation. He was meant to take a plane the next day to spend the holidays with his mum and she would surely ask him about his life in New York… it wouldn’t do if she found out he was sulking instead of making friends. _Of course it wouldn’t. So if there’s any music where you’re at, I dare you to dance like nobody’s watching you._

Star knew he was a shy person so at first, Fitz was unsure why she would ask him to do such a thing. Especially in a place where he barely knew anyone. It’s especially why you should do it. Her thought was encouraging but Fitz was still against it. He wasn’t drunk enough to let go of his inhibitions. I’ll drink to that. Fitz looked at the table nearby and got up to get another beer. _Come on, I’ll pretend I’ll be dancing with you._

And as much as Leo Fitz hated socializing, big parties and dancing, he went back down the stairs and went back to the main floor of the apartment, put his empty bottle down and joined the few people gathered around the middle of the room, on the makeshift dance floor. A silly dance song was playing and apart from the few drunk dancers, there was only a small group of women dancing all together. Fitz recognised Daisy, the host, as well as Bobbi - didn’t he just see her on the roof? They looked like they were having a good time and, just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard Star’s voice again. Don’t think about anyone else, just close your eyes and have fun!

And so he did. Eyes closed, he listened to the rhythm of the music playing and began to move his arms along with it, followed by his feet. Fitz couldn’t remember the last time he had danced but oddly, this felt liberating. In knowing that his soulmate was dancing too, wherever she was, he could sense their growing connection, as if they were actually close. 

* * *

“Girl, you’re on fire tonight!” Jemma laughed at Bobbi’s comment. Dancing like crazy with her friends in the middle of the room was exhilarating. But what galvanized her even more was the warmth she was feeling in her chest while thinking about Monkey, dancing his night away just like she was.

As she swirled around to the music, she caught sight of another small group of people now dancing on the other side of the room, in between all the groups of people drinking and conversing. She didn’t recall anyone else letting loose when the girls started, which meant that they set the tone for the party. It made Jemma’s smile grow wider, especially when she heard some cheering coming from the group. Jemma went on her tiptoes to try and get a glimpse of what was happening there but she couldn’t see much with the crowd and dim lighting. Daisy, ever the restraint one, took her hand and dragged her towards the hubbub and Jemma rolled her eyes but followed her best friend anyway, _“looks like the fun is over”_. 

And indeed it was, as when they arrived to the group of people, they had all resumed dancing casually, as it seemed that the source of their excitement had left them. Jemma shrugged at her friend and went back to dancing with Bobbi and Daisy went back to see if any of her guests needed anything. Or most likely to see if Sousa needed help providing their guests. The rest of the evening felt like a blur as Jemma danced, drank and talked with her friends, her mood much improved since the beginning of the night.

It was only on the way back to her apartment that she noticed something amiss: she hadn’t heard Monkey’s voice ever since she stopped dancing. 


End file.
